With the use of masks produced using some known lithographic projection exposure systems, high-frequency errors of the structures which are printed on a wafer occur on account of inhomogeneities of the illumination of the mask in the illumination system used. In this context, “high-frequency” means with a higher spatial frequency than corresponds to the possible resolution of an intensity variation device present in the illumination system. At a specific number of locations, the structures are printed with the desired widths, but deviations of the printed structure widths from the desired structure widths occur between these locations.